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A few weeks/months back, the JB Rustic was an item on its own.
A few weeks/months back, the JB Rustic was an item on its own.
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Same with me. My USA M-2500's neck is quartersawn. All wood lines along the neck (hardrock maple with RW FB) and headstock are at a right angle to the body. Bought brand new from a store and no mention of it in the production sheet nor in the ad. Another goodie from G&L
i think it's sort of a luck of the draw thing. i mean, after a whole log is flatsawn into blanks, there are a few pieces that are quartersawn.
Evidently, you can request 1/4 sawn and pay an upcharge, or take your chances and get lucky. A few years back, before it was an upgrade, it seemed like most of the new G&L basses I saw had it.
Quartersawn is nice, but I think G&L would do better with graphite supports as standard equipment. Like Carvin is doing.
Quartersawn is nice, but I think G&L would do better with graphite supports as standard equipment. Like Carvin is doing.
So I wonder why some of us wound up getting quartersawn pieces. Do they have necks already partially made sans fretboards and it was quicker to use those? Either way, it saved us all $75 or so, so I'm not complaining
Than you, Fourstringdrums. Without you, I would have not known...
Would the Quartersawn neck and graphite supports be overkill? Do you think just having a stable quartersawn neck would trump graphite supports? At the cabinet shop I work at, forcing an unstable piece of wood into a straight line with screws, glue, biscuits, finish nails, etc...always causes mayhem down the road.
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Well in my case, just the quartersawn + ebony board seems to be stable enough. It's actually a challenge to get as much relief as I can achieve with other basses and just a quarter turn of the rod. With the stock light strings, if the neck is just snug tight, it's perfectly straight. If I loosen it even a full turn, it still only has minimal relief. Fortunately I like a straighter neck. I noticed that I can achieve slightly slower action with this bass than I could with the neck on my LB-100. My LB-100 could achieve just a hair above 5/64" at the E 12th fret, but on this bass it's just a hair or two over 1/16".
Not speaking of necks though, but I have the same issue with this bass that I had with the LB-100 in that I have to get it shielded. It's not as bad as the LB-100 since I turn this bass up a lot less to achieve the same tone and volume, but the minimal shielding they use doesn't cut it here. We have a few outlets that aren't grounded 3 prong, so it's pretty noisy here. I even have problems with a battery powered amp. I think one of those outlets in the room just causes enough interference to be noisy. I'll drop it off to my tech this week most likely.
Not speaking of necks though, but I have the same issue with this bass that I had with the LB-100 in that I have to get it shielded. It's not as bad as the LB-100 since I turn this bass up a lot less to achieve the same tone and volume, but the minimal shielding they use doesn't cut it here. We have a few outlets that aren't grounded 3 prong, so it's pretty noisy here. I even have problems with a battery powered amp. I think one of those outlets in the room just causes enough interference to be noisy. I'll drop it off to my tech this week most likely.
Test yours
Didn't you buy yours from someone on here? I remember asking him if his buzzed and he said no. That doesn't mean it won't buzz in your house. I bought my LB to rehearsal to play on my bassist's amp before I shielded it and it didn't buzz.
The odd thing is that when I use my Pignose battery powered amp, any bass I've had that buzzes still does. So I'm assuming that the outlet that lacks the ground prong (which is in the same room as the Pignose and adjacent to my other amp) is causing interference.
Bought mine new... so far I haven't noticed anything at all in somewhat noisy environments... I may have a chance Thursday although I have a Big Al SSS incoming so I might as well test em both at the same time
Dunno, I'm not a luthier or an engineer. I'd just rather not have to pay an upcharge for a quartersawn neck for perceived stability, when Carvin uses graphite on ALL their bass necks, for no charge.
The Carvin PB4 that I had for about 15 minutes had the typical dead spot on the 7th fret G. My Mike Lull P4 had graphite rods and had the same dead spot. My SB-2 has a slight one on the 6th fret. I contend that all basses have them, it's just to what degree the user can hear them. On all the basses I've had with perceived dead spots for example, if I play by the end of the fretboard it's more obvious. If I play over the pickup or closer to the bridge, I can't tell. I bet yours is there, but your EQ or playing style makes it less obvious. My test for them is to put some foam under the strings. The dead note will be a "plunk" compared to the others.
I've made peace with it since I've never had one that was OBVIOUS. A slight reduction in sustain or a slight change to the tone of the note compared to the others is minimal to me.
I was under the impression that only bolt-on necks had dead spots on the fret board, and that graphite and neck-through basses don't have problems. Enlighten me!
I was under the impression that only bolt-on necks had dead spots on the fret board, and that graphite and neck-through basses don't have problems. Enlighten me!
Design aspects like graphite reinforcement and neck-thru can help minimize them, but there isn't anything that can completely eliminate them. Again I'm of the opinion that all basses have them, but some of them can be more or less detected by the player's ear depending on how sensitive they are, their hand position, the strings they use and their EQ. At least that's my opinion based on my experiences with my own instruments.
I was under the impression that only bolt-on necks had dead spots on the fret board, and that graphite and neck-through basses don't have problems. Enlighten me!
Absolutely not. Every bass has them to one degree or another. They can be minimized, but I've found them on graphite necks, neck-throughs, multi-laminated necks, etc. Neck stiffness is only part of the equation; it is also related to headstock stiffness and mass.
Some dead spots aren't so prominent as others, but they are there to some degree if you listen for them.
It would be nice for sure. Theres no doubt. They are certainly behind the curve on this one.
